Testimonials

Jeff Means
www.jeffmeans.com

I highly recommend Lindsay Murdock to any writer looking to take their manuscript to the next level. I worked with Lindsay for close to a year and through her painstaking evaluations of each re-write she helped me to define my writing ability and sharpen my creative thoughts. Sounds like a lot of work doesn’t it? But what fun! The freedom I found in following her road map was exciting and rewarding. I can’t say enough about her knack for not missing the slightest detail and all those “watch” words. Thank you Lindsay!

Chad McPherson

Making the decision to hire Lindsay was by far the best decision I’ve made in my writing career. I had spent almost five months editing my first draft on my own, utilizing feedback from friends and family, and thought I had it as close to perfect as I could make it. It makes me laugh just saying that now.

With Lindsay’s help and guidance I’ve woven in sub-plots and additional scenes that have completely transformed my book. I didn’t even realize how weak the overall storyline was before. There was no central conflict that was being advanced from chapter to chapter, and very little build up of tension toward the ending. She pointed out several inconsistencies that I had missed where things were either confusing or outright contradicted something that had happened earlier in the book as well.

Lindsay also helped me overcome technical flaws in my writing, such as the overuse of adverbs, repetitive sentence structure, grammatical / formatting issues, etc. and forced me to confront things that I knew were shortcomings going in (the beginning was too rushed, things were far too easy for the main character).

She offers candid, constructive advice with improvement suggestions that go far beyond just marking up a manuscript and is a meticulous fact checker. She will challenge you to make your own writing better, and sometimes that can be frustrating, but if you’re open to her suggestions and push yourself the end result will blow you away. She is quick to offer words of encouragement and point out things you are doing well, and unlike a lot of freelance editors, she will continue to work with you long after she has sent across her evaluation.

I truly view her as a partner in the development of my novel and will work with her on all of my future projects, even after I’m published. When I go back and re-read passages now sometimes I have a hard time even believing I actually wrote it. I now have a commercially viable novel and a very strong chance of being published, none of which would have been possible without her.

Jodie

Lindsay,

I have been eagerly pouring over the edited manuscript and report.  Thank you! Your services are worth every penny.

I have  laughed at myself a lot as I discover the overused verbs and watch phrases you pointed out. I do have my favorites. Thanks to your keen eye and word find, I have begun to retrain myself to avoid those traps.

I am excited to work on your suggestions of additional scenes and sub plots. I, of course, have read the manuscript dozens of times and was never able to see these golden opportunities to strengthen and deepen the story. I am brainstorming and working on these ideas, anxious to see the desired tension building results culminating through the story.

The story will be infinitely stronger from your edit.

My lists of thanks is endless. But one last gratitude I have to offer is for your straightforward advice. As I have been reworking different chapters I cannot reist the urge to compare. When I do I find a much smoother and more professional read, something I was unable to achieve before your edit. At the risk of using an overused word, THANK YOU!

Thank you (again),

Jodie

Joan Rogers,  Portland, Oregon

I engaged Lindsay Elizabeth Murdock’s services to provide a Reader’s Report, query letter, and synopsis for my historical mystery novel. I was very impressed with her work – I have always been far too self-conscious to produce an effective query letter and was particularly pleased with the letter she produced for me. Her excellent synopsis captured the essential elements of a complex plot, while managing to highlight the most important parts of the story. As a reader, Ms. Murdock’s experience in the industry allowed her to identify the novel’s strengths and weaknesses with accuracy and astuteness.

I would readily use Ms. Murdock again, and recommend her without hesitation.

Meghan Wier, Confessions of an Introvert

Lindsay Murdock runs an incredible editorial service. Her quick response was outstanding, and professionalism and expertise took my manuscript from draft to publishable book.

Gabriella and Jim

The copy edit was superb. The work that she did was above and beyond, and both Jim and I were very happy with the final results. Lindsay’s professionalism was optimal, and she was more than willing to extend her services to convenience our needs. We are more than confident that we will be using her professional services again as well as referring her services to fellow colleagues.

James Hittinger

Lindsay edited a 315 page fictional manuscript for me. I felt it was in its end stages, but when I received her remarks, I was delighted to discover that not only did she address my work from a micro level–grammar, punctuation, that sort of thing–but she also gave it consideration as an entire piece. Her editing launched me in new and better directions for completing my work and helped me produce something of much higher quality than what I originally submitted to her–no easy task considering how stubborn I can be as a writer. So, if what you really want to know is would I recommend her to you for whatever you need to have edited, the answer is yes. I’m certain she would do an excellent job with anything she edited.